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Four new funds featuring downside risk management, driven by Cougar Global’s MAR methodology, are designed for risk-aware financial advisors and their clients.

These funds are structured for investors who are concerned about equity market volatility, but do not want to miss out on the wealth-accumulation possibilities that the markets have to offer.

New York, NY (PRWEB)January 07, 2014

American Independence Financial Services, LLC (“American Independence”), a New York-based investment advisory firm and manager of mutual funds and separate accounts, today announced the creation of four funds based on strategies from Cougar Global Investments Limited (“Cougar Global”), a Toronto-based investment manager specializing in global tactical exchange traded fund (“ETF”) portfolios. The funds are based on Cougar Global’s ETF-based Macroeconomic Assessment of Risk (MAR) strategy, a macro-driven tactical ETF asset allocation methodology offering downside risk protection. American Independence will provide oversight, marketing, administration and execution. The funds will be marketed to financial intermediaries in the U.S.

“These funds are structured for investors who are concerned about equity market volatility, but do not want to miss out on the wealth-accumulation possibilities that the markets have to offer. The MAR strategy helps investors get invested when the macro picture is favorable and shift to a defensive posture when it’s not, seeking the highest return consistent with a limited probability of loss,” said Charles McNally of American Independence, co-portfolio manager of the funds.

The strategies underlying the MAR Tactical Funds are ideal for core portfolios, each providing a variable balance of income and growth. However, the strategies’ modest correlations with traditional asset classes also make the MAR Tactical Funds useful as actively managed portfolio diversifiers.

The funds are as follows:

MAR Tactical Conservative Fund which seeks attractive returns while targeting at most a 5% probability of loss, targeted at clients seeking regular withdrawals for income purposes.

MAR Tactical Moderate Growth Fund which seeks attractive returns while targeting at most a 10% probability of loss, is for clients with occasional income needs and moderate risk appetite.

MAR Tactical Growth Fund which seeks attractive returns while targeting at most a 15% probability of loss, is for clients with a long-term investment horizon.

MAR Tactical Aggressive Growth Fund which seeks attractive returns while targeting at most a 20% probability of loss, is for clients with a long-term investment horizon who are willing to tolerate higher volatility.

The Cougar Global MAR strategies employ a rigorous top-down investment discipline that seeks to achieve the compound growth rate required for investors to meet their specific financial goals over time, while managing downside risk by limiting the probability of negative returns in any given year. The investment process incorporates multiple macroeconomic scenario analyses and third-party research. It then constructs portfolios designed to perform with the appropriate risk/return trade-offs.

“Creating these funds represent the next step in our developing partnership with Cougar Global. We’re pleased to be able to bring these products to our financial intermediaries in the U.S.,” said John Pileggi, Managing Partner of American Independence.

Follow American Independence on Twitter @AmIndependence.

About American Independence Financial Services, LLC
American Independence is an investment advisory firm registered with the SEC providing professional, actively managed investment advisory services to 11 American Independence funds, as well as separately managed accounts, aggregating approximately $1 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2013. The firm is comprised of industry leaders with over 25 years of average industry tenure. To learn more about American Independence, visit http://www.americanindependence.com or call (646) 843-6901.

About Cougar Global
Founded in 1993 by Dr. James Breech, Cougar Global Investments Limited has demonstrated solid performance in both bull and bear market conditions by employing a global tactical asset allocation methodology using exchange traded funds (ETFs) to implement the asset mix decisions. Cougar Global’s team of investment professionals manages or advises approximately $1.4 billion in total assets as of November 2013. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, the firm has 250 private clients globally and provides investment solutions for advisory platforms in the U.S. To learn more, visit http://www.cougarglobal.com/.

Disclosures
Investing in a Fund involves risk. Stock and bond values fluctuate in price so the value of your investment can go down depending on market conditions.

General ETF Risk: The cost to a shareholder of investing in the Fund may be higher than the cost of investing directly in ETF shares and may be higher than other mutual funds that invest directly in equities. You will indirectly bear fees and expenses charged by the ETFs in addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses.

Foreign Securities Risk: International investing involves risks, including risks related to foreign currency, limited liquidity, less government regulation and the possibility of substantial volatility due to adverse political, economic or other developments. These risks often are heightened for investments in emerging/developing markets or smaller capital markets.

Tracking Error Risk. ETFs typically trade on securities exchanges and their shares may, at times, trade at a premium or discount to their net asset values. In addition, an ETF may not replicate exactly the performance of the benchmark index it seeks to track for a number of reasons, including transaction costs incurred by the ETF, the temporary unavailability of certain index securities in the secondary market or discrepancies between the ETF and the index with respect to the weighting of securities or the number of securities held.

Fund of Funds Structure. Investments in securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, are subject to statutory limitations prescribed by the 1940 Act. Absent an available exemption, the Fund may not: (i) acquire more than 3% of the voting securities of any other investment company; (ii) invest more than 5% of its total assets in securities of any one investment company; or (iii) invest more than 10% of its total assets in securities of all investment companies.

Many ETFs have obtained exemptive relief from the SEC to permit unaffiliated funds to invest in the ETF’s shares beyond the above statutory limitations, subject to certain conditions and pursuant to a contractual arrangement between the particular ETF and the investing fund. The Fund may rely on these exemptive orders to invest in unaffiliated ETFs. If the Fund is unable to rely on an exemptive order, the limitations discussed above may prevent the Fund from allocating its investments in the manner the Advisor considers prudent, or cause the Advisor to select an investment other than that which the Advisor considers suitable.

Because the Fund’s investments are concentrated in underlying funds, and the Fund’s performance is directly related to the performance of such underlying funds, the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective is directly related to the ability of the underlying funds to meet their investment objectives.

New Fund Risk. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size, in which case the Board of Trustees or the Adviser may determine to liquidate the Fund. The liquidation can be initiated by the Board of Trustees without a shareholder vote and, while shareholder interests will be the paramount consideration, the timing of any liquidation may not be favorable to certain individual shareholders. The sub-adviser has not previously managed an open end fund.

For a complete list of fund risks, please see the prospectuses.

For more complete information on the American Independence Funds, you can obtain a prospectus containing complete information for the funds by calling 866-410-2006, or by visiting http://www.americanindependence.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. You should consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before you invest or send money. Information about these and other important subjects is in the Fund’s prospectus or summary prospectus.

Shares of the American Independence Funds are distributed by Matrix Capital Group, Inc., which is not affiliated with American Independence Financial Services, LLC.